1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to roller coaster amusement rides. More particularly, this invention relates to roller coaster amusement rides employing wooden running tracks.
2. State of the Art
Roller coasters have enjoyed immense popularity in the United States and elsewhere for over one hundred years. These rides often consist of a passenger carrying vehicle, or collection of vehicles joined together, which move along a track system. Historically, the track system typically comprised a pair of parallel rails which exhibit steep upward and downward gradients in elevation, and sharp left and right banking turns. Aside from supplying the passenger with a pleasing panoramic view from high elevations, the main objective of the roller coaster ride was to thrill the passenger by traversing the track at the fastest possible speed while maintaining an acceptable degree of safety. The thrill experienced by the passenger thus arose through the sensations of rapid acceleration, brought about through rapid changes in vertical and horizontal direction of movement.
Innovations in roller coaster design have sought to enhance and intensify passenger thrill by substantially increasing the speed of movement along the track system, and hence, the resulting forces of acceleration experienced by the passenger. These innovations were greatly facilitated by technological advances in materials engineering, a direct result of which enabled the construction of stronger and lighter track systems and passenger vehicles. However, attendant with ever increasing speeds of the passenger vehicles is the ever increasing risk of catastrophic failure of the ride. As a result, other innovations sought to enhance and intensify passenger thrill by incorporating increasingly complex geometries into the track system itself. Two of the more common track geometries which have thus evolved are the loop and the helix.
In parallel with the aforedescribed track system geometries, there also exist innovations in passenger vehicle configurations for enhancing and intensifying passenger thrill. These innovations typically depart from the conventional roller coaster in that the passenger vehicle no longer assumes the standard railway car configuration. For example, Achrekar (U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,943) discloses a suspended passenger vehicle configuration whereby individual passenger units are rotated and translated in a multiplanar manner as the carriage assembly proceeds along a Möbius strip, or one-half section of helical track. A more recent departure from the conventional passenger vehicle configuration is disclosed in Bolliger et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,984). The invention disclosed in Bolliger enables passengers to be suspended from a bogie moving along a horizontal track system, so that a seated passenger's head is in closer proximity to the bogie—and hence the track rails—than are the passenger's body and limbs. This configuration results in a passenger vehicle being designed so that each passenger is suspended with his legs in mid-air without a wall or a floor around him.
Early roller coasters were built on a wooden superstructure which was formed as a latticework to provide sufficient strength. The tracks were made of laminated wood covered by a metal strip that was nailed to the wooden track. More recently, some modern roller coasters have been built on steel superstructures with steel tracks and contain no wooden parts. Today all roller coasters are classified as either wooden or steel.
The tracks of a metal roller coaster include a pair of long steel tubes supported by a superstructure made out of slightly larger steel tubes and/or steel beams. The tubular steel tracks are prefabricated in large, curved segments that are welded together. With this manufacturing process, designers can realize a smoothly curving track that tilts the coaster car (and rider therein) in all directions, which makes for a distinctive smooth ride.
An exemplary metal roller coaster is shown in FIG. 1A including a pair of steel tubes 11A, 11B that are supported by a metal superstructure 13. The coaster car 15 is supported below the steel tubes 11A, 11B in an inverted manner by two groups of wheels that ride on the respective steel tubes 11A, 11B. Each group includes an upper wheel 17, a bottom wheel 19 and a side wheel 21, which are rigidly supported such that the wheels (and the car) follow the curves governed by the configuration of the ride. The passengers 23 are suspended below the steel tube track in seats 25 that are integral to the car 15. Such seats 25 enable the passenger's legs to dangle free, which provides a distinctive feeling of freedom (and risk/danger) that is also enjoyed by many roller coaster enthusiasts.
The metal roller coaster shown in FIG. 1A is commonly referred to an inverted roller coaster. Suspended metal roller coasters are similar to an inverted roller coaster, except that the passenger's feet are typically restrained such that they remain within the coaster car, and the coaster car typically has flexible mountings to the tubular rails which allow it to swing from side to side during the ride. These configurations also provide a distinctive feeling of freedom (and risk/danger) that is also enjoyed by many roller coaster enthusiasts.
In contrast to the steel tubular tracks of the metal roller coaster, the tracks of a wooden roller coaster include a flat metal strip that is bolted to a running track made of laminated wood. The tracks are braced by wooden cross-ties and diagonal support beams. The entire wooden track structure rests on a lattice of wooden or steel beams. With this design, designers can combine hills, twist and turns to realize a variety of course layouts. Typically, the wooden tracks are laid out in small pieces, thus forming joints that connect these pieces together. These joints impart a distinctive rattling sensation to the car (and the rider(s) therein) that is enjoyed by many roller coaster enthusiasts.
An exemplary wooden roller coaster is shown in FIG. 1B including a pair of running tracks 31 each consisting of eight layers of timbers each about 2 inches thick and 6 inches wide. The runner tracks 31 are affixed to cross beams 33 (one shown) typically by bolts and/or other fastening means. A flat metal strip 35, typically measuring 4 to 6 inches across, is bolted to each running track 31. The coaster car 37 is supported above the tracks 31 by a set of tractor wheels 39 that ride along the metal strip 35 during positive-g motion of the coaster car in addition to a set of side-friction wheels/rollers 37 and under-friction wheels/rollers 39 (which run under the inside edge of the running track 31) that prevent the car 37 from rising completely off the running track 31 during negative-g motion of the car. The wooden roller coaster provides a distinctive rough, noisy out of control feeling to the passenger, but fails to provide for suspension of the coaster car below the track. Thus, wooden roller coasters do not offer many of the distinct characteristics of inverted metal roller coasters that are enjoyed by many roller coaster enthusiasts.
Thus, there remains a need in the art to provide a wooden roller coaster that provides a distinctive rough, noisy out of control feeling to the passenger(s) while also providing for suspension of the coaster car below the track.